Searching God's Will

Random Question: What’s a weird thing you’re really good at?

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I. The Will of God: Where they Are - Acts 1:12-14

A. Upper Room

Context: Jesus and the disciples are at the Mount of Olives, together physically on earth for the last time. Jesus ascends back to the Father and is gone into a cloud. Jesus sent the Apostles back to Jerusalem to await the gift of the Holy Spirit. Beginning of our story brings us to the walk back to Jerusalem.

Mount of Olives = Sabbath day’s journey almost 1 km from Jerusalem; 10-15 minute walk. Imagine what’s going on in your mind on that walk, you just saw Jesus received in the sky!!

Once they arrived in Jerusalem, they made their way to an upper room.

Q: Looking at verse 15, how many people were gathered together?

120

Q: So what does that tell us about the room they were in?

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Illustration: Photo of an upper room

It was large! Upper rooms were typically this large open room on the third story of a house; they were used for all sorts of things: dining rooms, study places for schools, and lodging for the poor. I know what you might be thinking, “Is this the upper room with Jesus in the Last Supper?” Probably not, there were lots of upper rooms in the first century.

Here you have the disciples, the family of Jesus (vs. 14) and about 100 other believers.

Q: Someone remind me, where’s Jesus at this point of our story?

In heaven

Q: Had the church been started yet? Why not?

Because Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would come on them and be their Helper, the church wouldn’t start until that day would come. So the believers here are waiting to see what the Lord is doing. They don’t know what’s all about to happen, all they know to do is wait.

Q: Do they waste their time waiting?

No!

Q: What are they doing in vs. 14?

Praying! At different periods of our lives, we’ve all been at a point where the future isn’t exactly clear; we all want the Lord’s will for our lives, but it’s kind of foggy for us. We find ourselves in this waiting period; we want answers and direction, but the Lord calls us to wait.

Q: What should we be doing in that waiting period?

Pray!

And that’s what they’re doing here in the upper room.

B. Unified Prayer

Q: What do you think they were praying about?

I don’t know. And that’s actually an inportant key; if the focus were about the words they said in their prayer, then God would’ve revealed it.

Q: Why did God not reveal that to us?

Because what matters isn’t the words they were praying, it’s the FACT that they were praying. Prayer is so foundational to the church and to our own lives. These believers were busy in prayer.

Q: Do some people listed in vs. 14 stand out to you?

Jesus’ brother’s. Previously, Jesus’ half-brothers denied Him and did not believe in Him, but since that point they’ve placed their faith in Christ, and we see them unified with all the other believers. Amazing how God can work on a stubborn heart!

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II. The Will of God: How they Got There - Acts 1:15-20

A. Good Brought from Evil

Q: Someone tell me how many apostles are named in vs. 13? What’s wrong here?

Only 11 Apostles, Judas is missing.

In verse 15, Peter addresses this problem,

Acts 1:15–16 NKJV

15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said, 16 “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus;

Peter said, “this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled”

Q: Look at your cross references for verse 16 and tell me what Psalm that is? (Turn there)

Q: Who’s the first person that pops in your mind reading this verse?

Judas! Judas was the issue of the day. We know his story of course; he betrayed Jesus, handing Him over to the Pharisees, all for 30 pieces of silver, and then hangs himself in guilt. As we discussed a few minutes ago, the Apostles have a problem here; Judas is gone, and we need another apostle to replace him.

As per usual, Peter speaks up first and speaks into this situation. You can picture the scene, a bunch of believers gathered together, kind of lost, waiting to hear from God. Peter steps up as the leader and gives an answer to the question on everyone’s mind, “How did we get here?”

Q: What’s the first thing he says to the brethren?

“this scripture must needs have been fulfilled”

“Guys, none of this is random, we’re here for a reason! There’s a reason Judas betrayed Jesus. He actually had to!” In order for Scripture to be fulfilled, Judas had to give Jesus up to the religious leaders. God had a divine agenda for the very circumstance those disciples found themselves in. God used something Judas meant for evil to bring His perfect will to pass.

Q: Who’s in control after all?

Q: Is God in control even when we’re wronged? When our enemies deserve justice?

Yes! God is in control of all these circumstances. We call this the sovereignty of God; it means He has all the authority of the universe, nothing can change His plans, He’s got full control of the joystick.

Peter goes on, “which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas,” by the way, that’s a great verse to show your unsaved friend. “Isn’t the Bible just written by a bunch of men anyway?” Yes it is, but the “Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.”

(Someone read vs. 17-18)

Pretty gruesome details here...

Judas’ death

Hung himself

either the rope broke or the tree branch, or knot slipped and splat

Field was bought with the money Judas earned betraying Jesus, “The Field of blood” still today there’s no permanent residents!

Q: Why in the world would Luke want to include this apart of our story?

I think he’s doing that to show us that we’re off with the old (Judas) and it’s time for the new apostle. This has happened, and we need to deal with it.

Look at verse 20, Acts 1:20

Acts 1:20 NKJV

20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘Let his dwelling place be desolate, And let no one live in it’; and, ‘Let another take his office.’

Part 1, Judas is gone. Part 2, we need a replacement.

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III. The Will of God: Where to Go Next - Acts 1:21-26

A. Requirements for Apostleship

Acts 1:21–22 NKJV

21 “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

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Illustration: Powerpoint slide of the apostles requirements.

- Accompanied Jesus in His earthly life (From His baptism until now)

- Witness the resurrected Christ (Are there any eye witnesses today? No! There are no more apostles)

- Be sent by Jesus

Q: Could anyone have this role?

Q: So, you’re telling me that Bob from around the corner can’t be an apostle?

Exactly. The office of apostle was so important; so the requirements were very strict.

Q: Why were the requirements so strict?

These people were establishing the church and sharing the gospel.

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B. The Participants

Q: Who was nominated (vs. 23)?

Barsabbas and Matthias

C. The Process

Now the process here is pretty interresting, it’s not something we’d be doing today.

Q: What does vs. 26 tell us they did?

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Illustration: Photo of lots

Casting lots. In the Old Testament days, this was a super common way to discover what God’s will was for your situation. In this case, they wrote the names of the possible apostles on stones, and put them in a clay jar. They’d shake the jar, and the first rock to fall out was the one chosen.

Q: Tell me what you think, was this a good or bad way to find God’s will?

We picture it in our terms and think, “well yeah, of course it was random, you’re practically rolling dice and hoping for your favorite guy!” But this is far from the truth. The Holy Spirit had not come to permanently live in believers yet, that’s chapter 2. So, they didn’t have the Spirit to guide them in decision making. This was the alternative at the time.

Q: What were they doing right before they cast lots (vs. 24)

They were praying!

Acts 1:24 NKJV

24 And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen

“You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all,”

God is sovereign, like we saw earlier, He knows exactly what’s on our hearts when we approach Him in prayer, and yet He still wants us to come. Many people ask, “Why pray if God already knows the answer?” Even though God knows the end of our story, He wants us to be part of the journey that leads to the end. The key to discovering the will of God in our lives is trusting in the sovereignty of God (I know You’re in control) while still approaching Him in prayer.

So they pray for God to reveal the answer, and He answers their prayer!

Application

Q: How can we be applying this to our lives?

God is in control of all our circumstances

He calls us to pray!

God uses things that man mean for evil for His own good